Dew Drop owner Jay Carlucci (right) during an interview with The Valley Indy May 4.
DERBY — After a few months of review by the city’s planning and zoning commission, the popular Dew Drop Inn has approvals to add an outdoor dining area to the establishment.
The Dew Drop owners will be adding a covered and uncovered patio to the existing building. The outdoor dining area will be constructed in a small parking lot next to the building.
That parking lot has been used as a temporary outdoor dining area with small tents since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Connecticut last year.
Parking for The Dew Drop, which is at the corner of North Avenue and Roosevelt Drive, can be found at a parking lot on Park Avenue owner Jay Carlucci purchased in 2015. It’s a short walk from the Dew’s front door.
The quest to add outdoor dining to The Dew Drop Inn was complicated.
First, The Dew Drop, which is a grandfathered use, was zoned a ‘public space,’ so Carlucci first needed to have the land rezoned.
Second, Carlucci had to assuage worries from residential neighbors who were concerned about possible plans to develop the Park Avenue parking lot into something other than a parking lot.
The Park Avenue parking lot is actually zoned residential, and Carlucci had been contemplating requesting a zone change. After hearing neighbors’ concerns, Carlucci opted to keep the parking lot zoning as is, and promised neighbors he only wanted to use the parking lot for parking.
Finally, the project will require some dynamite blasting in order to make room for the outdoor dining.
Neighbors were very concerned with this, but Carlucci met with several of them and explained he needed to remove rock from behind the Dew so that customers on the patio are not so close to the road.
Carlucci said neighbors were worried the blasting and expansion would push the Dew up North Avenue toward the houses, something Carlucci said is not happening.
Residents who initially expressed concerns about The Dew Drop’s plans eventually spoke at Derby P&Z meetings in favor of the plans, saying it would be an improvement to the corner.
“He’s done everything the city or this commission asked, and he should be commended for that,” said Derby P&Z Chairman Ted Estwan said during a meeting in April as the commission voted unanimously to grant a special exception and site plan application.
In an interview with The Valley Indy in early May, Carlucci said the idea for outdoor dining came about during COVID-19, when he was forced to consider it due to the restrictions put in place to protect the public.
“There’s a lot of things to take from COVID. A lot of establishments, and cities, now see what outside business can do,” Carlucci said. “It’s something I never would have considered, or thought I had the space to consider.”
Carlucci said he was happy to work with the city and with his neighbors to present a plan everyone can support. Adding tables and seats for outdoor dining will allow him to add some business while giving him more flexibility going forward. He said the goal isn’t to bring in the masses. The drawings for the project show five new tables.
“I’m going into my 16th year as the owner. For the first 10 or 11 of those, I lived above The Dew Drop,” Carlucci said. “So I was just as much a part of the neighborhood as anyone else. I lived there with my wife, and she had our first child while we were living there. (The neighborhood) means a lot to me. I don’t want to change the neighborhood. I’m not trying to destroy things or bring in so many extra people. The City of Derby is a small city. Most of us know each other and I want to keep it that way.”
Carlucci doesn’t have an exact start date for the work. He said the blasting could happen in November, and construction on the outdoor dining could start immediately thereafter, depending on the weather. If not, construction will start next spring.
